Somm’s second new Mahler release in his anniversary year features a trio of superb singers with the excellent Orchestra of the Swan in live recordings.

Kenneth Woods was appointed as Principal Guest Conductor of this orchestra in 2010 and is widely known for his affinity with the music of Mahler.

At the end of the Great War, Vienna was a defeated city and Mahler’s disciple, Arnold Schoenberg created a Society for Private Musical Performance to revive musical life. The society did not have sufficient funds, so ensemble transcriptions of orchestral works were often made. Schoenberg reduced Mahler’s Songs of a Wayfarer for a concert in 1920, restoring the intimacy of the original piano version, while preserving many colours found in its later orchestral score.

He also began arranging The Song of the Earth for the society in 1921, but did not progress beyond the first song, The sketches lay untouched until 1983, when the conductor Rainer Riehn completed them.

Because much of Mahler’s score has the delicacy of chamber music, surprisingly little is lost in these skilled arrangements. On the contrary, both works benefit from increased transparency, intimacy and emotional impact.